As the when/where availability of the MDP-130 has been mentioned in this thread on a number of occasions I feel the need to input the following for others to use as they see fit.

On Feb 15 I visited the DigitalConnection website to place my order but the site was very slow. Being impatient I called them to query availability. The sales rep advised they had just opened a new box thus assuring me I could get one without dealing in backorders. I advised I would give the website one more try and, if not successful, would call right back to place the order. I succeeded in placing the order and beat the same-day ship cut-off by 5 minutes (Whew!).

Feeling satisfied my order was being processed and shipped that day I only awaited the confirmation. Well, I received confirmation...confirmation very late on the evening of the 16th that my card was on backorder and expected to be filled some time early next week!

I just called them to question these events. The initial contact handed me off to another rep that apologized for the missed initial sale. She reasoned to me that they had someone request 3 boxes of card and that must have bumped my order. Interesting considering when I called to place my initial order the sales rep did advise that they had just opened their last box prior to receiving their next overseas shipment...not due till next week!

Now I ask, how can an order for three boxes be filled by one already opened box? I also ask, even if they did offer someone a partial order fill such as this, why would you as a retailer do this knowing that the product is of such short supply at the moment and sought after my many? Is this not alienating your customer base?!

The two aspects of this entire situation that bothered me most are; As a retailer myself I make some sort of amends for a situation like this, it could be as little as offering free or upgraded shipping. From DC I was offered nothing. The second concern of mine, and probably more irksome, is the fact that my credit card was charged in full on the day I placed the order!!!!! Not good business practice!

Needless to say I have cancelled my order with them. I've now place an order with Copperbox after having spoken with their very openly honest and forthright rep (I'm guessing it may have been the owner or manager as they seemed quite knowledgeable in the acquisition aspect of this stock). It will be another week or two to receive my order (as these will most likely be 2nd run production units) but I feel a bit more comfortable now about pre and post sale support.

Etete... you might be the only person on this thread with a problem from DC. Most of us here love them and their service. Not saying you aren't entitled to your opinion, just that I wouldn't be surprised if people jump down your throat

Originally posted by Mikef5Sorry Cliff, I thought you had some affiliation with the company or worked for them, you seem to have a good amount of knowledge on the product. Anyways, if anyone has used this card with a PCI-Express card I'd be interested in your findings.

Laters,
Mikef5

I don't have the MDP-130, but I have the 120 and it works fine with the PCI-Express card I got with my Dell.

DC is prolly inundated with orders.
Ordered mine Monday, and a box arrived Wednesday.
An honest mistake, they put a 120 in instead of the 130.
5 minutes on the phone and I've got my rma number and another 130 on the way, cool.
The 130 arrived this morning, installed without a hitch.
Slapped the rma tag on the box and turned it over to the fedex delivery guy.

Then you should understand that mistakes happen. I placed an order with DC a few days ago, but realized later one of the cables I ordered I did not need. I called DC and asked if it was still time to pull that cable from my order and they said no problem. However, someone messed-up and the entire order was shipped that same evening. That does not bother me, because I know that it was most likely an honest mistake. I have been purchasing from DC for over 5 years now and I would rather have an occasion mistake, then to try to find another company to deal with that may not be as honest. Besides, who does not make mistakes, it happens! I think if you would have called them back and explained your frustration to what happened and asked to talk to Kei, or someone else in charge, then most likely they could have check for you to see what actually did happen and may have tried to resolve the matter to you're your satisfaction.

Originally posted by IamMikeI don't have the MDP-130, but I have the 120 and it works fine with the PCI-Express card I got with my Dell.

Thanks for the input. I'm having a new box built and it uses the PCI-Express bus and graphics card, so if it works on the MDP-120 I'm sure it would work with the 130. Guess it's time to order the card....

Originally posted by starscomeoutI have been purchasing from DC for over 5 years now and I would rather have an occasion mistake, then to try to find another company to deal with that may not be as honest.
Don

hmm, I've also purchased from DC and liked their service. But are you insinuating that the other company that sells these cards are as what you stated above? Is this a personal experience dealing with the other company(ies)? heresay? or a second sense on your part?

just wondering

edit: "then try to find another company to deal with that may not be as honest" ahhhhhh, if no one tries another company DC will have monopoly on these, heh?

Originally posted by Mikef5Thanks for the input. I'm having a new box built and it uses the PCI-Express bus and graphics card, so if it works on the MDP-120 I'm sure it would work with the 130. Guess it's time to order the card....

Laters,
Mikef5

Just make sure the MB in your new box will support a straight PCI card. I would guess that most will for now but don't know.

@madpoet
Thanks for the heads-up! ;-) Yeah, that's why I definitely added that it was just my experience inferring that others have without-a-doubt, and will in the future, experience different.

@ Cliff
It may not be DC's normal practice but it did unfortunately happen this time. My being a first-time customer of theirs along with the other issues tends to amplify my perception of impropriety.

@conradsky
Ouch, you telling me your experience digs the knife even deeper, that is, if your dates are correct. Considering I placed my order on the 15th which garnered a backorder how did they have available a replacement for you on Wednesday the 16th? Hmmmm.

@starscomeout
Yes I do full well understand that mistakes happen in the retail world. I guess what I am taking into account is what seems to be a number of questionable actions that occurred during the entirety of this process, not just a single incident. As for speaking to Kai, it very well could have been her that I was handed off to in customer relations/support. As neither addressed me with names I am unsure. In as much as purveying my feelingsI am never an irate person. That said, I am still sure that they understood my dismay and frustrations. She did offer to call me if they were able to find one and get it shipped sooner but gave no guarantee.

Originally posted by pochoboyhmm, I've also purchased from DC and liked their service. But are you insinuating that the other company that sells these cards are as what you stated above? Is this a personal experience dealing with the other company(ies)? heresay? or a second sense on your part?

just wondering

edit: "then try to find another company to deal with that may not be as honest" ahhhhhh, if no one tries another company DC will have monopoly on these, heh?

No, you miss my point. I am not insinuating that about any particular company. I am just saying that DC has a damn good reputation, so why push your luck, stay with what you know to be honest and don't gamble on a new experience. As I stated above, everyone makes mistakes, but there is more then enough people here who has done business with DC to tell you that they are a very reputable company who cares about what their customers think. Again, so why venture elsewhere because someone make an error. Even if the other business you turn too is also very honest, after doing enough business with them you most likely see a mistake from them that you are not going to be happy with, so get over it!

Originally posted by etete... Being impatient I called them to query availability. The sales rep advised they had just opened a new box thus assuring me I could get one without dealing in backorders. I advised I would give the website one more try and, if not successful, would call right back to place the order. I succeeded in placing the order and beat the same-day ship cut-off by 5 minutes (Whew!).

If the sales rep was willing to put your name on a card why did you not place the order? By going back to the WEB site you allowed another order to come in front of you and it sounds busy there!

Originally posted by stanger89Cliff, while you're here. Can you confirm I don't need an extra cable to pass VGA through the 130? I skipped the free cable from DC since I've already got a breakout cable.

That depends on you display type. For a computer monitor you just use the VGA cable that comes with the computer monitor. For an HDTV you may need another type cable.

Originally posted by conradskyOrdered mine Monday, and a box arrived Wednesday.
An honest mistake, they put a 120 in instead of the 130.
5 minutes on the phone and I've got my rma number and another 130 on the way, cool.

DC seems to mean very well, but they do make a lot of mistakes. My order for an open-box Fusion arrived with an empty box. They were very good about resending the missing card, but they made a second mistake by sending it to the wrong address and not emailing me a tracking number. Note my experience is probably not typical b/c I ordered an open-box item that was sitting in one of their testing labs.

My only complaint is that I never got a reply or apology when I emailed them of their mistakes.

Originally posted by litzAll of the MDP cards come with a VGA pass thru cable ... VGA out, to MDP-1xx, to TV ...

That's what I thought, just wanted to confirm, thanks.

Quote:

Obviously your TV needs to speak the same format your VGA card outputs (either rgb or component) and you also need to set the MDP to the same format, but you probably already know that ... :-)

Fortunately my TV speaks both

Quote:

Note that the SAME cable is used for direct MDP output to the TV ... you simply don't connect the VGA card part of the cable to the VGA card for "Separate Monitor Mode" ...

I think I understand but let me try, this I how I think it works.

The 130 has an HD15 connector that can do RGB or Component, it's also got an "S-Video" like (although not really) input and a HD-15 to "S-Video" cable (loopback cable). I run the VGA out of my video card, into the loopback/passthrough port (with the included cable?) and then use my current VGA breakout cable from the MyHD HD15 output to the RGBHV input of my TV.

Right?

ps I know it's not an S-Video port but I couldn't think of a good word for "round connector that looks like S-Video, but with more pins"

It works ... and pretty much flawlessly at that. Popped it right in the box a MDP-120 was in, it worked with the MDP-120's drivers, straight up.

Upgraded to 1.65 to get the QAM tuning enabled, and scanned away.

I was somewhat concerned at first that it couldn't tune the same channel (98) that my Fusion 3-T couldn't tune ... it DID fine 8 zillion other channels though. Far Far Far more than Fusion.

Installing an amp on the line (I think it's a 20db amp which may be overkill) cleared up the channel 98 tuning problem -- comcast must simply be weak on that one channel. It's kinda weak on the cable box too - comes up in the Motorola diagnostics as "fair 76%" agc, which is acceptable but not all that good. I haven't tried with Fusion yet, but it might clear that problem up too.

A software note for the MIT folks ...

Here in atlanta, 108-1 is WXIA-DT ... 108-2 is WGCL-DT ... the MyHD picked up channel 108-1, labelled it via PSIP as 11-1 ... then promptly labelled 108-2 as 11-2 ... even though it's a totally seperate station and should in reality be 46-1. I think the software got confused because 108-2 had no PSIP.

WXIA is, btw, the only cable QAM station broadcasting PSIP info.

Regardless, since cable stations are not likely to carry subchannels of a main broadcast station (and if they did, the subchannel would be its own PID, with its own PSIP) the PSIP should apply only to its host PID.

and lastly, a hardware note for MIT ...

My MDP-130 came with the nut that holds on the SPDIF rca jack turned slightly askew ... this is not a manufacturing defect or anything, but what it DID do is orient the nut so it wouldn't fit between the PCI slot edges. Turning the nut slightly so the flat sides of the nut were parallel to the slot sides fixed the problem.

If someone who didn't notice this tried to jam the card into the PCI slot they would almost assuredly damage or possibly destroy the PCI slot and the card, and mostly likely bend the case metal around the slot too.